When Danger Strikes, Pitch it Back
by Ichinen Pride
Summary: On a rare day off, Eijun and his friends go out to Tokyo to hang out, do some shopping, and just enjoy their time away from baseball. But when Eijun gets separated from the group, he suddenly finds himself hanging out with Yakushi's Raichi, who was also in the same predicament. That was when trouble finds them, and now the two of them will have to work together to escape the mob.


**A/N**

Depicts violence and minor harassment towards the end, please be advised

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own Ace of Diamond

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Sawamura Eijun grinned as he hopped off the bus to Tokyo and stared excitedly at the hustle and bustle of the city as passersby and cars whizzed past him in a blur. It has been a while since the last time Eijun was in the heart of Tokyo, and that had been with Takashima Rei when she traveled over to his place in Nagano to scout him out for Seido's baseball team. Ever since that heartwarming day of saying his goodbyes to his middle school friends and promising them that he would carry on their will in his baseball, Eijun didn't expect him to be back in the city this soon.

"Ahh, being outside here, sure beats running around all day back at the field, right guys?" Eijun smiled as he turned to see the last of his teammates exiting the bus.

"Oh? But I thought you loved going out for runs, with your tire buddy? How sad it must be for it to be left all alone in that dark equipment room." Miyuki Kazuya smirked and elbowed Eijun playfully, who in response, fumed as he flapped his arms around.

"Miyuki Kazuya! Don't you dare talk crap about my pal! He's been with me through thick and thin, we've made memories together, and I won't let you make fun of him that easily!" He nearly screamed out, glaring daggers at his upperclassman.

Kazuya snickered, "So it's a _he_ now? Gee, when did your relationship get so deep-"

"I'm not kidding around, Miyuki!" Eijun growled and was about to let him have a piece of his mind when someone stepped in between them.

Takigawa Chris Yuu shook his head at his juniors. "We just arrived in the city, and you guys are now choosing to have a fight?" Sometimes Chris wished that they could read the atmosphere at times like this.

Eijun halted in his step and looked up at Chris with defeated eyes as he pointed accusingly at Kazuya. "B-but Chris-senpai! This jerk didn't consider my feelings when he started spouting nonsense about my pal! He should apologize!"

"Eijun-kun, people are staring, please keep your voice down!" Kominato Haruichi went up to the raging brunette and tried to calm him down.

"It's no use Haruichi, once that boy has his mind set on something, he's even more determined to carry it out." the older brother of Haruichi, Kominato Ryosuke, smiled and went over to where his sibling was, "But Chris is right, I don't want to spend my _only_ free day babysitting, right, Eijun?" Ryosuke's voice just dripped with menace, despite him still smiling.

Eijun gulped nervously as he stared at the ground and pouted, his brows knitted together. "Hmph, but that bastard Miyuki started it first…" He grumbled to himself, but unfortunately, Kazuya was standing close by him.

"Hmm? Mind repeating that, Sa-wa-mur-a?" Kazuya cocked his ear closer to the younger boy as he grinned sheepishly.

"Shut up! You're so annoying!" Eijun let out a frustrated cry and stomped his foot in rage.

"Miyuki, Sawamura, please drop it already." Yuki Tetsuya stared at them, frowning, he said, "We have a whole day ahead of us, let's just enjoy some time together."

"Yeah! I don't want to be stuck with you guys all day if you're going to be having a lovers quarrel!" Isashiki Jun growled and stared accusingly at the two boys.

Kuramochi Yoichi started to laugh as he saw Kazuya and Eijun beginning to blush at Jun's comment. "Oh my god, _those_ two? Lovers? I-I can't, oh god my stomach hurts!" He continued his laughing fit as Masuko Tooru's stomach growled beside them, and he couldn't help but get red too at the image of the two of them being a couple.

"Masuko, don't let your stomach talk for you." Tanba Koichiro shook his head disapprovingly, but also sported a light shade of red on his cheeks.

Kawakami Norifumi lightly tapped Tanba on his shoulder, "Umm, Tanba-san? You're also blushing." He lightly smiled and looked at the arguing pitcher and catcher.

Eijun pulled at his hair as he shook his head back and forth. "You guys aren't helping the situation get any better you know?!" He then took a deep breath and sighed, looking up at Chris he bowed his head, "Chris-senpai! Wherever you go today, I will follow suite! And Miyuki Kazuya can just go have karma follow him around, I don't care!"

Kazuya laughed as he shrugged, "That's fine by me, I always have luck by my side so it's no problem at all!" Everyone groaned at his cocky response.

"Ah! Furuya fell asleep under that street lamp!" Eijun gawked at his rival, Furuya Satoru, who was quietly snoring away while leaning against the light pole.

Ryosuke saw this as an opportunity to give the sleeping first year a hard chop to his side. Satoru jolted awake and stared blankly in front of him at his teammates who were giving him weird looks. Like, it's the middle of summer and in this scorching heat, who could sleep in this weather anyways?

The black haired boy blinked away the tiredness in his eyes and then bowed his head slightly at the group. "Oh, good morning everyone."

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The large group decided to split up to make the shopping done easier, and so that they wouldn't look too out of place if people started to stare at their large numbers. Plus, they each had someone that they absolutely did _not_ want to hang around, so it would most likely benefit every team member.

So the groups are as it stands: Tanba and Kawakami, and Furuya are heading out to the local sports department to see if there were anything useful that they could use for their upcoming matches, being the ones who are more serious about baseball and all. Kuramochi, Masuko, Ryosuke, and Haruichi were going out to the arcade, whereas Kuramochi made a bet with Masuko in which the winner would have to buy the other a whole month's worth of pudding. Ryosuke just wanted to see his junior humiliate himself if he loses and Haruichi wanted to try to play a few games as well.

Yuki and Isashiki went to a game store, with Tetsuya wanting to see if there were any new strategic board games he could conquer and Jun wanting to tag along because he the other groups were too "dull" and "not in his taste" kind of way. That, or he just wanted to hang out with his close buddy.

That left the final group of Chris, Miyuki, and Sawamura, who, when first assigning the teams, rejected the idea of Kazuya being in the boy's group. After a lot of arguing and Chris trying to calm down a raging freshman, he finally caved in and stated that, "Fine, Miyuki Kazuya can ' _tag_ ' along with me and Chris-senpai. But just make sure you keep that karma away from me!"

So now they were in a men's clothes store, the trio were looking through racks of t-shirts when Eijun piped up. "You know, I really like spending time with the team, it makes me feel closer to them you know? Like, super close friends!" He smiled as he shuffled through another cluster of shirts.

Chris hummed as he pulled out a long sleeves shirt and looked at it. "I understand where you're coming from, going out with your teammates can empower more trust in them and can improve your game play. It's really enjoyable." The catcher placed the shirt back on the rack.

"Haha, Chris-senpai you can be so sentimental sometimes," Kazuya grinned and patted his upperclassman's back, "But you're not wrong, Sawamura."

Eijun bobbed his head as he turned towards the two catchers, "Yep! I have intellect that no one knows about! Haha!"

"No, you can only say meaningful things when you're by yourself and moping around."

"What was that?!" Eijun growled at the snickering second-year as Kazuya pushed the shirt he was holding to the boy and gave him a thumbs up.

"Here, I think this is more you. Go try it on!" He grinned, "Or do you need me to help you do that too?"

Jun's earlier comment suddenly popped into his mind as Eijun blushed heavily and snatched the shirt away from Kazuya's hands. "I can put on a shirt just fine! And what do mean by "too"?! Since when did you help me with anything you good-for-nothing-"

Kazuya laughed as he pushed a ranting Eijun into the nearest fitting room. "Yes, yes, now please hurry it up. Oh wait, stay in there for a few more minutes I have other clothes for you to try on!" He shoved the boy in and pulled the curtain over so that it concealed Sawamura.

"Miyuki you bastard!" Came an enraged voice from behind the drapes.

Chris sighed as he glanced over at Kazuya who was humming a tuneless song as he picked out more clothes and piling them up in his arms. "Miyuki, is having Sawamura try on all these outfits really necessary? I doubt he'll have any time to wear these."

"Mmm." the other brunette's glasses glinted as he turned to look at Chris, "He needs to relax a little, after all these matches we've played in, Sawamura hasn't been getting enough time for himself. All he's been doing is pitching and running, he's getting _zero_ rest!" Kazuya shrugged as he placed a shirt back into the rack, "Plus he's getting older, he needs to mature more and act like a man. That means he's gotta _dress_ like a man and not some scrawny brat."

"I heard that!" Eijun's voice screamed out from the fitting room.

Chris looked thoughtful for a moment and then chuckled, "I see, it's nice to see that you actually care for his well being, Miyuki."

At his comment, the second-year turned away and let out a dry cough. "W-well someone's gotta look after the idiot, if not, then who knows what kinds of troubles he could get into? It's my responsibility as his battery partner to do so… Or something like that."

The other catcher was about to put in his own input when his phone beeped. He took it out and briefly scanned the message that was written on the screen. "Oh, it looks like the others want to head out for lunch. They want us to meet them in one of ramen shops nearby." Chris looked at Miyuki who was sighing as he placed the clothes back where he found them.

"Alright, but let's stop by here again after we eat."

Kazuya glanced at the fitting room which Eijun still occupied, "Hey Sawamura, did you catch all that? We're gonna get lunch so hurry it up! We can come back later and get your clothes."

Shuffling was heard from within the room as Eijun poked his head out and nodded at the two upperclassmen. "Okay! You guys wait for me outside, I'll be quick!" He said, as he retreated back into the room.

"Sure, let's go, Miyuki." Chris nodded and began to make his way towards the entry, as Kazuya grinned and followed suite.

After a couple minutes of profound shuffling and Eijun getting stuck in his clothes (don't ask how), he finally finished and left the fitting room, letting out a sigh as he scratched his head and was thinking about what kind of ramen he would get.

"Well, anything is fine with me, after all, food is food!" He giggled to himself as he exited the store.

He glanced around for Miyuki and Chris whom had said to be waiting for him outside of the clothing store, but Eijun couldn't spot the two catchers as he began to feel a bit nervous and antsy. He scanned the area once more and still, no sign of them. Did they leave without him?

"Gah! What if they did?!" Eijun cried out as he clutched his cheeks and stared at the ground, "No, Chris-senpai isn't that type of person to do so, I know Miyuki would but not Chris-senpai. Ohh, what do I do now?!"

He immediately began to pat around his pants pockets for his phone when he realized, that they were empty. A flashback came running back through his mind as he recalled leaving his phone on the desk in his dorm room, and he had forgotten to grab it. Great, just great.

He was lost in the middle of Tokyo, with no phone and just enough money to pay for a taxi fare, Eijun began to wonder if he had cursed _himself_ when he wished for karma to befall Miyuki.

"I'm so sorry Gods! I wasn't thinking that you would turn your rage on me!" He began to cry out, ignoring the awkward stares from passersbys as they walked by him, "Please I'll do anything for a miracle, just let me find them, I don't like being all by myself!" He was the type of person who couldn't stand the idea of loneliness, he was always surrounded by friends throughout his school years, so the thought of him being stranded with no means of contact scared him.

He loathed it.

"... Hey aren't you that one player from Seido?" A sudden voice broke Eijun out from his praying and he stared at the face that was looking back at him in confusion.

The other boy in front of him looked familiar, brunette just like him, pointed eyes and an oddly recognizable scar that painted his right cheek.

"Ah! You're from Yakushi! That one monster hitter!" Eijun pointed at him with his mouth agape. "What are you doing here?"

The other boy stared at him with narrowed eyes, "I have a name you know, it's Todoroki Raichi, and for your information I was with my teammates." Raichi then sighed and rubbed the back of his neck as blush tinted his cheeks, "Well, now I'm not anymore. I lost them a while back."

Eijun blinked as the boy's words came to him. He grabbed Raichi's hand into his own and stared at him with a gleaming expression, "Really? Then you're in the same tight spot as me! Let me tell you what, why not you and I go have our own fun time together? We can even have lunch, and talk about baseball! What do you say?" Eijun's eyes sparkled, even though he had an personal rivalry with Yakushi's cleanup, he had always been awed by how the other first-year's skill in hitting had most likely surpassed his own at pitching.

It was as if Raichi was that single source of motivation that drove him to perfect his pitches, Eijun didn't want to have that same feeling again of having his best throw end up being a home runner.

"Lunch? You mean food?!" Raichi's eye glittered at the mention of food as he drooled and in return, tightened his grip on Eijun's hand.

The latter nodded gleefully and grinned, "Haha! Yep, let's go find a good place to eat and split the cost, we can find the upperclassmen after chow time!" His worries of losing Chris and Kazuya began to slowly diminish as he and Raichi began to scour the streets for a nice location to have lunch.

"I'm Sawamura Eijun by the way, but you can call me Eijun, Raichi!" The boy announced with a smile on his face.

Raichi, in turn laughed and shook his hand, "What? You think because we're both first years that we can call each other by our first names?"

"Nah, it's not just that, but I feel like we're more alike than you think, Raichi, how we're both so motivated by our skills in baseball that it'll most likely do us some good once we hit our third year! Just think, we could be playing against each other until we graduate!" Eijun's face lit up as he retracted his hand back and then pointed down the street, "Anyways, I hear there's a nice dessert stand not too far from here, wanna check it out?"

Surprised at Eijun's statement, Raichi nodded unconsciously and began to walk alongside the other boy, occasionally glancing over at his face. A small smile formed on his lips as he recalled his words, "Okay, umm, Eijun was it? I just want to let you know that the _next_ time we play, I'll hit _every_ single one of your pitches out of the park! I'll blast them away!" His grin widened and he laughed.

"Heh," Eijun clenched his fist together as they continued walking, "You can dream all you want, just know that _I've_ especially been training hard to make sure that I strike-out _every batter_ that comes on to the plate! So don't be so cocky, _Mr. Monster Hitter._ " He smirked back.

Raichi grinned and playfully punched Eijun on his shoulder, "You talk big, for a guy as small as you!"

"Dude, we're about the same height, what are you yammering about?" Eijun laughed and returned his punch with a light chop to the boy's head.

Raichi let out a small " _Ouch!"_ before rubbing his head and nudging Eijun's side with his elbow, "Hey so where's this place you wanted to eat at? Oh and just to let you know, Sanada-senpai only gave me enough money for buying lunch."

"Eh, so you're lucky enough to have someone buy things for you? How much did he give you anyways?"

"I have 2000 yen."

Eijun gaped at him and began fondling around in his own pockets and then pulling out a few coins, "... 800 yen…" he muttered pitifully to himself.

Raichi hummed as he placed a hand confidently on the boy's shoulder, "Don't worry Eijun, I gotchu! Let this be a sort of compensation for our last game! Plus, I like you, you kinda remind me of someone though- I just don't know who." The clean up looked thoughtful for a moment.

Eijun lowered his head in shame at his lack of money and sighed, "Thanks Raichi, I owe you one," he smiled and cocked his head to the side, "And umm, the person you're thinking of? I remind you of him?"

"Yeah, how you talk big and are sometimes totally oblivious of what other people are saying to you... Hmm, I just can't put my finger on it!" Raichi made a face as he wacked his brain for an answer.

 _I think you're talking about yourself, Raichi._ Eijun thought longingly, as the duo finally arrived at a small shop in the center of the street.

"Well, here we are, I heard they have all kinds of desserts at this place!" Eijun grinned as they entered the shop, calling out a brief courtesy of, " _excuse us",_ and then finding a small table on the far side of the room with two chairs.

They sat across from each other as a waiter came up to them and placed a menu on their table. "Please let us know when you are ready to order. Thank you." the waiter had said and then left.

Raichi and Eijun stared at the menu curiously, their eyes scanning down the list of the ever-so mouthwatering desserts from heaven. But after looking through the entire menu, the prices don't seem to agree with them at the moment.

"Hey, these foods are way out of our league! What should we do now?" Raichi whispered to Eijun, who was still going over the list of food.

He then looked up and grinned, pointing to a single desert and leaning in closer to the other brunette. "We should share one, together! I vote on this large banana split ice cream with three flavors and extra whipped cream!" Even just saying the name out loud is making the pitcher's stomach growl.

Raichi looked stunned and turned to see the price of the item, "It's 1800 yen… and," he thought about it for a while before breaking out into a wide smile and nodded enthusiastically, "I think we can finish it! Yeah, let's do it!"

Eijun returned the nod happily and waved his hand over at the waiter. He told him what they wanted and before long, the server returned with a tray with their desired dish. The two boy's eyes glowed as the waiter slowly set the plated down in between them.

"Enjoy." The waiter then left.

Both Eijun and Raichi unconsciously picked up their spoons at the same time, gave each other a determined look and grin, and then started spooning chunks of ice cream into their mouths.

The bliss that descended upon them couldn't even match no other.

While in the middle of putting another spoonful into his mouth, Raichi looked up at Eijun, "Say, won't our team be mad at us if they knew we were pigging out with ice cream and all this sugar?" He said.

Eijun chuckled as he bit into another scoop. "That's the thing: we _don't_ let them know. We need a break around here, and what better way to enjoy our time off is to have some ice cream? Man, I don't even remember the last time I came into _contact_ with sugar!" _Well besides with Masuko-senpai's pudding, but that's a different story._

"Huh, I get it!" Raichi broke out into laughter as he and Eijun continued their ice cream together.

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"Ah, I'm so full! We really out did ourselves, Raichi!" Eijun exclaimed, patting his satisfied stomach as he and Raichi began walking aimlessly down the streets. In the end, they splitted up the cost but Eijun insisted that the other boy pay more since he was only left with now, 300 yen to his name.

Raichi nodded in agreement, grinning as he pulled out a lone banana and began wolfing it down, "Right? I was so lucky to have gotten this banana from them after we finished!" He said with his mouth full.

Eijun stared at him in astonishment, "Eh, you can still take in more after all that?! What awesome metabolism you must have!" Sawamura wished he had that sort of system.

The other grinned as he finished his grub and tossed the peel into a nearby trashcan, as he did, the duo suddenly heard a pained cry from from an alleyway that was just up ahead.

"... Did you hear that?" Raichi tensed as they got closer to the noise, not knowing what was going on.

Eijun nodded and swallowed, "Yeah, it sounded like someone's in trouble!" he picked up his pace as he passed Raichi and craned his head over to beckon the boy to walk faster, "Come on! Let's help them!" He was headstrong when it came to doing the right thing, the pitcher absolutely loathed the idea of the strong bullying the weak, it was disgusting how some people would stoop that low just to make themselves bigger.

The two boys turned the corner and entered the confined space between two buildings, although it was way past noon, the alleyway casted many shadows that blurred out almost the entirety of the area.

As they're eyes began to adjust to the dim lighting, they took a few more paces deeper into the pathway and saw there, at the very dead end of the lane, were a group of seven gangly looking delinquents, each varying in different appearances and sizes. They had a boy that looked about their age in their grasp.

"N-no! Stop it!" The seemingly taller guy of the group had his hand clutching the boy's chin as he leaned in closer to the latter and sneered.

"Mmm, look how he's trying to put up a brave act. Isn't that cute?" he then took a whiff of the boy, smirking as the boy shivered and tears began to fall down his cheeks. The rest of ruffians began to laugh at his misery.

Eijun couldn't believe what he was witnessing, his palms began to sweat as he clenched his fists and his heart raced with adrenaline. It was sickening, they were almost on to the boy as if they were about to rape him, he looked frightened to bits, and he couldn't be any older than himself or Raichi. This sort of act… Was something that Eijun could not accept at _all._

His eyes glanced down at a good sized stone by his feet, it fitted into his palm perfectly just like a baseball. He took a step forward as Raichi, who was also immensely angered by what he was witnessing, held his tongue as he let Eijun take the first move.

Eijun winded up, just as if he was about to pitch a ball into the catcher's mitt, and calculated where to aim for, carefully making sure that he didn't hit the other boy. He locked on to who he assumed was the gang leader, and let the stone fly off from his fingertips.

It whizzed through the air, although not as fast as a baseball would've flown, but still made contact with the target. The stone smashed right on to the guy's left cheek as he was thrown to the ground by the sudden impact, his buddies were too slow to react on what had just happened, and only stared at their boss in astonishment.

"Hey! Get out of there! Hurry up!" Eijun screamed at the assaulted boy, who quickly turned to look at the duo with frightful eyes, before understanding and sprinting away from the group, exiting out the alley way behind them.

Raichi grinned as he furrowed his brows together, that pitch that Eijun just threw, it was intense even if it wasn't with a baseball. He definitely had improved since their last encounter and all he could think about was the _next_ time he would be able to have a crack at that new pitch.

An angered groan came from the guy that Eijun had knocked down, his eyes were full of fury as he picked himself and gingerly touched his cheek with his fingers. As he pulled it away, blood began dripping from his nails as he tried moving his jaw. It wasn't a deadly wound, but it began to really piss him off at these brats that suddenly intruded on his fun time.

He glared at Eijun and Raichi as he turned his body to face them, the scarlet liquid continued to fall from his cheek and on to the concrete.

"... You brats sure have guts to mar my pretty face." His shoulders shook as he let out a half-nervous chuckle, which soon picked up and became a full out maniacal laughter. His eyes widened as he gritted his teeth and pointed at the two boys. "Fine then! You guys will be a replacement for the last kid to be my toy! A _permanent_ replacement!"

Eijun didn't like the sound of that, his neck began to sweat profoundly as his hand shot out and grabbed on to Raichi's wrist as he pulled the other and turned to run. These guys were dangerous, the only option to get away from these goons, was to quickly make a dash for it.

"Woah there! Not so fast you little runts!" A different voice called out and Eijun was roughly pulled backwards by another pair of hands that had latched themselves on to his other wrist. "A hit and run doesn't sound like a good idea with the boss here."

His hand was suddenly torn away from Raichis' as two guys came up to the boy and punched him in the gut, the cleanup doubled over as he gasped, and was trying to throw his arms around.

Four other boys came up to Eijun as they locked him into place: two securely clamped their hands around the pitcher's arms as the other two held on to his legs, and spreaded him apart whilst standing. Eijun growled as he tried to twist and turn his body to try and loosen the grips on these guys, but with a four to one matchup, the boy was at a loss.

He looked at Raichi through narrow, lidded eyes, the other was still recovering from the blow he had received on his midsection and only two members were holding him up.

The "boss" smirked as he walked over to the trapped Eijun and looked him in the eye. "Well, well. It seems like you have a pretty good arm to have thrown that fast pitch without hitting the other boy. Kudos to you I guess."

Eijun couldn't comprehend what was happening, his mind was going haywire as the gang leader closed in him. This situation wasn't what he had expected on happening, but now that it had, he immediately began to panic for himself and Raichi, who was dragged into this as well.

"Y-you bastard! Don't you know that this isn't a fair fight?!" He wanted to know what they plan on doing to him, but at the same time, he was fearing for the worse.

The other boy in front of him suddenly lashed out and slapped the brunette across the cheek, his face welling up as the pain stung and Eijun gritted his teeth in frustration.

"Who said anything about a fair fight? This ain't a sports tournament kid, do we look like the types of people who would, as you say, 'play fair'?"

Raichi narrowed his eyes as he saw Eijun get slapped, the fury that was previously boiling in the pit of his stomach was now burning with intense rage. His abdomen still stung and he could feel a bruise welling up, but he had to do _something_ to save him! But with two other goons holding him down, he was immobilized. What could he do?

The leader brought the same hand out that had slapped Eijun closer to his cheek and, to much of his utter surprise, started caressing the side of his face. "... You know, you _are_ kind of cute. That stubborn personality, golden eyes that are glaring at me with so much hate…" He suddenly let his hand glide down Eijun's neck as he gasped and started to tremble.

That was when warning bells started going off in his head. This was bad, _so very bad_ , Eijun had seen news on gang rapes and murders, but now he was trapped right in the middle of it all.

He started to scream and thrash his limbs around, all these months of training for nationals have given him more muscle and strength that surprised, even himself one time. He just hoped it was enough to throw these guys off guard.

The leader's lackys started struggling as the boy continued to wriggle around, "Tch this dude just won't quit will he?!"

"Hmm, I wonder," The boss smirked as his hand went below Eijun's belt and hovered over his crotch area, "If you're sensitive here?"

Eijun was sweating as he glanced down at the hand that was dangerously near his manhood, these guys were sickening. He was ashamed that he had gotten into this mess in the first place without having a backup plan, if this were a baseball match, then it would've been _Miyuki_ who'd think of the strategies to take out their opponents, and Eijun now realized how dense he has been running head first into the fire.

"You-," he gulped as he twisted in their grasp, "You wouldn't dare."

His words were ignored, he gasped as the other guy rubbed the fabric over his crotch achingly slow. He continued the same repetitive movement as Eijun gritted his teeth and struggled to avoid his touch. But with his lackeys holding him down, he was trapped and was at this guy's mercy.

The perpetrator grinned as he looked at Eijun with a disgusting smile. "Oh? It's getting pretty hot down here." He sneered as Eijun sweated profoundly on his neck and forehead, "Where'd that tough act go? I thought you were more stronger than that. Or maybe this is your weak spot?"

The brunette's heart was thumping dangerously fast within his ribcage, as the gang leader kept touching him he began to feel weaker and weaker, the strength in his arms fell slack and his legs were shaking. _Goddamn these teenage hormones!_

As this whole escapade was going on, Raichi was growing incredibly angry, the pain from the blow he had received earlier had somewhat died down, and he had chosen to keep his mouth shut. He had taken note that although his arms were pinned behind his back, he still had access with his feet, Raichi needed to think of a plan, and fast!

Then, something shiny caught his vision as his eyes darted to just within a few feet beside him, it was something he could potentially use as a weapon against these guys: a crowbar. The frown that he had worn soon lifted into a cocky grin.

Eijun cried out in pain as one of the other boys landed a hard blow to the middle of his back and he lurched forward. The gang leader laughed as he rubbed his hands together, licking his lips and then started eyeing Eijun's belt buckle.

"Mmm, why don't we skip all of the side dishes and get to the _main_ desert then, shall we?" His hand shot out and clutched on to the pitcher's buckle, tearing it off his pants as Eijun yelled and began struggling once more.

That was when Raichi made his move.

Letting out a raging battle cry, he raised his foot up and kicked the boy who was holding him in the crotch and immediately did the same thing to the other guy. He lunged for the crowbar and felt power rising inside of him as he began to imagine this tool as a baseball bat.

He swung the crowbar across the backs of the already, down members and then turned to glare at the leader who only stared at him in shock. Fire was burning in his eyes as he gritted his teeth and frowned, "... You bastards, doing this to Eijun… is not acceptable." Raichi felt rage piling up as he held the crowbar up and took a step forwards.

"I'll blast you all away if you touch him!" He leapt forward and swung hard, aiming for the leader's stomach. It connected and the boss gasped as he was sent flying into the wall. The goons who were holding Eijun down dropped him, knowing that the situation was _not_ in their favor, and made a run for it. They stopped to pick up their fallen members and escaped the raging cleanup.

Eijun's chest heaved as he stared at the sunlit streets that were just beyond this alleyway. Droplets of sweat littered his face as he sat up and swallowed bile that was stuck in his throat. "... That… that was a close one." He brought his hand up to his face and was shocked to see that they were shaking.

Raichi threw the crowbar to the ground as he crashed into Eijun with a bear hug, tears streamed down his face as he wailed, "Oh my god, Eijun! I… I didn't know what to do! I was stunned and couldn't think right, but right when he started doing those things to you… I had to let my anger out. They deserved it, those bastards!" He was shaking as Eijun's face relaxed and he wrapped his arms around the other boy.

"Yeah, I'm glad they didn't hurt you though." he said. Raichi released him and pulled him up, stopping to brush the dirt off his disheveled clothes.

"I was more worried about you to be honest. But now what are we going to do? We look like we just came out from a wrestling arena!"

Eijun thought about it for a moment as he picked up his discarded belt and frowning as he noticed that it was snapped in half. "Uhh, I don't know really. Let's just hope that the upperclassmen noticed that we're missing and are on their way to find-"

"Ah! Chris-senpai! I found them!" An oddly familiar voice echoed through the alleyway.

Raichi and Eijun turned to look at the newcomer: it was Miyuki, and Chris was just behind him. "Sawamura! Todoroki!" the third-year exclaimed as the two catchers ran over to the two boys.

Eijun gulped as he began waving his arms around frantically, "Th-this isn't what it looks like! We got into a little trouble but we're fine now! Don't be mad at us, senpai-" The brunette's eyes widened as a strong pair of arms wrapped around his body and pulled him in closer. He felt the body warmth of the other boy and began to relax, the tension from earlier were washed away as his catcher held him

Kazuya gritted his teeth as his brows furrowed and he tightened his hold on Eijun, "Idiot! Don't you know how worried we were?! After me and Chris-senpai noticed you were taking so long, we immediately called the others to tell them that you were gone! We looked all over the city for you, and it was only when we ran past these bruised up guys, who were chattering about how "two cute boys had beaten them up", that I made the assumption that it was you guys!" The catcher pulled away from Eijun and frowned in anger.

"Don't _ever_ leave our sides again, you hear me Sawamura?" Miyuki growled.

The boy nodded nervously, casting a glance towards Raichi who seemed to be in an awkward situation, and Chris, who was assumed to be agreeing with what everything Miyuki had said. "Yes, Miyuki-senpai, I'll be more careful next time."

ლლლ

After regrouping with his teammates, Chris had explained to the two boys that they had ran into Sanada and Yakushi, who were also looking for Raichi and had decided to search for them together. Eijun and Raichi both looked upset that they made their friends worry over them, the grudge that they held was carried on all the way until they saw Sanada.

Before Raichi left to go back to his team, he turned to Eijun and held on to his hand, "... Eijun, I had fun today with you, well except for that last part I was pretty pissed off at that time. But you were an interesting guy! I am absolutely looking forward to the next time we play against each other!" The boy then leaned in closer until his mouth was by the other's ear, "A-and, I'd like it if we can hang out some more… If that's fine with you…"

Eijun felt his heart knot as he pulled back and stared into Raichi's eyes, a grin forming on his lips, "That's totally okay with me! Today was super exciting, and I'd like being around you again!"

Raichi smiled and gave Eijun a small fist bump on his shoulder, before turning away he said, "Great! Let's meet up again sometime, Eijun!" He waved as he sprinted towards his teammates who greeted him and began walking away.

A hand suddenly placed itself on his shoulder as he looked up and saw Miyuki glancing down on him, "Sawamura, it's time we get going, the bus back to Seido will be leaving soon."

Eijun nodded briefly as he turned around to face his two upperclassmen and bowed, "Yes, of course! And again, I'm sorry for earlier!"

The two catchers gave the boy a smile before waving it off and beckoned him as they began walking to their bus, and his remaining teammates who were waiting for them.

 _Raichi, I had fun today. I hope we'll graduate together with memories of our moments with each other._

ლლლ

 **Omake:**

The street lights whizzed past him, as Eijun stared out from the window of the bus. He suddenly had a thought as he turned to look at Miyuki who had his eyes closed, probably tired out from today.

"Hey, Miyuki-senpai? What ever happened to those gang of thugs after you and Chris-senpai ran into them? Were they that willing to tell you guys where me and Raichi are?"

The catcher opened one eye as he looked at Eijun, and with a sigh he said, "Oh them? Nah they weren't any trouble at all. They coughed up everything they knew and what they did to you guys, it was pretty easy with those guys."

Kazuya then shrugged, "Well, that was _only_ after Chris-senpai beat them up senseless. He was the one who was most worried about you, idiot. I couldn't even tell them apart after he was finished with them!" He then laughed, "I bet they're still in that dumpster that Chris-senpai dumped them in!"

Eijun's eyes widened as he began to sweat and once again stared out the window.

… _Chris-senpai, you are amazing._

* * *

 **A/N**

So how'd you like it? After writing this one-shot, I feel like we need more of Raichi and Eijun being besties with each other~ :)


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